Disputed Abuja Land: Minister defends naval officer, says Wike defied military advice

The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has defended Ahmad Yarima, the naval officer who had an altercation with the Minister Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over a disputed land in Abuja.

Mr Matawalle, who spoke on Thursday in a telephone interview with DCL Hausa, also criticised Mr Wike, saying that he defied the advice of the naval officer’s supervisors.

“What the minister did was not okay, ” he said, adding that he ought not have engaged in an argument with the officer.

“The officers have superiors, and he (Wike) is our colleague. If there’s anything at all, he should have contacted us. And what the officer did was based on order. The officer followed the order, and he was respectful,” he added.

“There is no law in the military that recommends punishment for the officer,” Mr Matawalle said when asked if Mr Yarima should be subjected to disciplinary action, as being debated in the public.

The defence minister reiterated that Mr Yarima acted on order, “and he did so with humility and respect.”

Mr Matawalle said Mr Wike should have respected the officer’s uniform and the military. Disrespecting the officer, he said, was the same as disrespecting President Bola Tinubu, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Matawalle’s colleague in the defence ministry, Mohammed Badaru, also said Mr Yarima would be protected if he acted on a lawful order.

A former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Burtai, also faulted Mr Wike, advising him to apologise to the military.

Although the Defence Headquarters has not issued any statement regarding the incident, it posted a cryptic message on its X handle a few hours after the incident, suggesting that it was in support of Mr Yarima’s action.

When asked if the support given to Mr Yarima could embolden other officers to imitate him, Mr Matawalle said the military has been lawful.

‘Wike defied military advice’

“The [FCT] Minister knew that the officer was acting on order,” Mr Matawalle said, adding his findings show that Mr Wike defied the advice given to him by the military.

“I made findings and I learned that the Minister called the Chief of Defence Staff, who told him to hold on so he could investigate the matter,” Mr Matawalle said.

He said the Chief of Naval Staff was also contacted, and he also requested to investigate the matter. “But he (Mr Wike) did not wait as advised. He went to the place,” he said.

Mr Matawalle said he called Mr Wike after seeing the video of the incident.

“I called him and told him he should have contacted me before going to engage with the officer,” Mr Matawalle said. “But he said they (officials) only came to tell him, and he went.”

Mr Matawalle said he told the FCT minister that the matter would be investigated.

The incident

The faceoff between Messrs Wike and Yarima occurred on Tuesday when soldiers led by the latter denied Mr Wike and his entourage access to the contested land, which belongs to a former Chief of Naval Staff, Zubairu Gambo.

While Mr Wike argued that the land was illegally acquired, Mr Yarima insisted that it had been legally acquired by his principals.

Videos of the incident show how Mr Yarima, a lieutenant, prevented Mr Wike from accessing the land, explaining that he was acting on orders.

Mr Wike demanded that the documents of the land be provided to justify the soldiers’ presence on the contested land.

“I am the minister—you can’t say that to me,” Mr Wike snapped at the officer. “This kind of impunity cannot continue.”

The minister said no one, regardless of rank, is above the law.

He accused the naval personnel of using their uniforms to protect illegal buildings and obstructing legitimate government work, stressing that soldiers must not intimidate officials carrying out lawful duties.

Mr Wike also accused the officers of taking actions that could have put lives at risk.

“If not for the Chief of Defence Staff, who just called me, there might have been casualties,” he said, implying that his team was ready to confront the soldiers, which could have led to violence.

The situation got tense when Mr Wike started using offensive words, calling the naval officer a fool.

“I am not a fool, sir,” the officer countered him. “I am acting on instructions, and I am a commissioned officer.”

Wike defends himself

Speaking to reporters ahead of the FCT Executive Council meeting on Thursday, Mr Wike defended himself, faulting the use of soldiers by the former Naval chief to guard the land.

He defended his presence on the disputed land, saying senior officials, including directors, were being “attacked” and “beaten up.”

According to him, assaults on officials could deter them from carrying out their duties when they know that their principal cannot protect them.

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The minister said that influential individuals, including ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-army chief Theophilus Danjuma, both retired generals, who had similar issues, had called him to resolve the issues instead of resorting to the use of soldiers.

The incident has led to intense public discussion, with some Nigerians criticising the minister for his actions and use of words, others criticising Mr Yarima for allegedly disrespecting Mr Wike, who represents President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, and still others criticising the military hierarchy for deploying soldiers over a land dispute.